Ali al-Fadhily

When Blackwater Kills, No Questions Asked

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*
October 30, 2007

BAGHDAD, Oct 30 (IPS) - The recent attacks by Blackwater USA mercenaries in Baghdad are far from the first -- and many believe they will not be the last.

Seventeen Iraqis were killed Sep. 16, and another 27 wounded at Nisoor square in western Baghdad when mercenaries from the company opened fire on them. Dozens of witnesses said that, contrary to Blackwater claims, the mercenaries had not come under attack.

Fighting Amongst Shias Adds to Violence
Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Sep 11 (IPS) - Clashes between rival Shia militas in Kerbala have spread across southern Iraq and Baghdad, adding a new dimension to sectarian violence.

Clashes between the Mehdi Army militia of Shia anti-occupation cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organisation militia of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) erupted over recent days in the holy city of Kerbala, 100 km southwest of Baghdad.

Kerbala, with a population of about half a million, is a holy city, particularly for the Shias, as it is home to the tomb of Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

The shrine of Imam Hussein is a place of pilgrimage for many Shia Muslims.

Samarra Under U.S. Attack
Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Sep 6 (IPS) - Residents are fleeing Samarra city in the face of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and resistance groups.

New defiance is rising against U.S. forces following military "crimes", fleeing residents say.

"On Sunday the 26th of August, there was fierce fighting between armed men and American forces in the Armooshiya district, and I saw Americans evacuate many of their soldiers by stretchers," a man who fled Samarra for Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "As usual, Americans took revenge by bombing the district."

With Donkeys for Transport, All Is Well

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

FALLUJAH, Sep 5 (IPS) - A brave new attempt is under way to project that all is well now with Fallujah. Residents know better -- or worse.

Former Iraqi minister of state for foreign affairs Rafi al-Issawi visited Fallujah, 60 km west of Baghdad, Aug. 22. Issawi, who resigned Aug. 1 when the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front withdrew from the government, visited the city with other members of the Sunni Accordance Bloc, al-Tawafuq.

The group toured the city and met with senior officials and community leaders in a show of conversion of the city from the most violent to the most peaceful in Iraq.

Another U.S. Military Operation, More Unrest
Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (IPS) - New U.S. military operations across Iraq appear to be worsening the situation.

On Aug. 13 about 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops began a massive new military operation north of Baghdad. According to the U.S. military, the goal of the operation, named Lightning Hammer, is to "target insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baquba."

The operation is part of a larger military offensive, Operation Phantom Strike, whose goal is "to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shia extremist operations in Iraq."

Both operations have included extensive use of air strikes. Many residents speak with bitterness about the operations and the language used to describe tem.

Between the Two Rivers, Lack of Water Kills
Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (IPS) - The collapse of Iraq's infrastructure has created a worsening water crisis that is killing untold numbers of Iraqis.

Iraq, with its famous Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run the length of the country, is now unable to provide drinking water to most of its people.

"The two rivers are still there, great as they always were, and flowing all through the year," chief engineer Ahmad Salman of the Baghdad Water Authority told IPS. "Yet Iraqis are thirsty, and we are ashamed of being engineers in the service. We have simply failed to provide our people with half of the drinking water they need."

Iran Ties Weaken Government Further

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 13 (IPS) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's increasing ties with Iran have triggered a splintering of his government.

Several groups, both Sunni and Shia, have followed the Sunni al-Tawafuq bloc (Iraqi Accord Front) in quitting the U.S.-backed government. But Maliki refuses to make the concessions necessary to bring his "unity" government back together.

Spokesman Iyad Jamaliddin said on behalf of the Iraqi National List led by former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi that the ministers of his group would now boycott government meetings. The party claims both Shia and Sunni following.

A Nail in Maliki Government's Coffin?

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 3 (IPS) - The recent resignations of Iraq's Army Chief of Staff and several of his council military leaders underscore a continuing decomposition of Iraq's U.S.-backed government.

Everybody in Iraq -- politicians, political analysts, poets, scientists, porters – seems to agree that the U.S.-backed Iraqi government headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a total failure.

Security, basic services, and all measurable levels of Iraq's infrastructure are worse now than under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, the U.S., Britain and Iran all continue to support this government.

A Little Easier to Occupy from the Air

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily

BAGHDAD, Jul 31 (IPS) - Many Iraqis believe the dramatic escalation in U.S. military use of air power is a sign of defeat for the occupation forces on the ground.

U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft dropped five times as many bombs in Iraq during the first six months of this year as over the first half of 2006, according to official information.

They dropped 437 bombs and missiles in Iraq in the first half of 2007, compared to 86 in the first half of 2006. This is also three times more than in the second half of 2006, according to Air Force data.

Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Jul 16 (IPS) - Many Iraqis are now beginning to see the rising sectarian violence as part of a larger plan to partition the country.

"Americans want to alter the shape of our cities, dividing Iraqis into ethnic and sectarian groups living separately from each other," Khali Sadiq, a researcher in statistics at Baghdad University told IPS.

"They are not doing this directly, but they have obviously given room to militias and Iraqi forces to do the job," he said. "We are more than halfway towards a sectarian Iraq."

A recent report has raised further suspicions that there is a U.S.-backed plan to partition the capital city, and possibly the country along sectarian and ethnic lines.